Beyond the Bassline: Roots reggae

Aswad in Brixton 1981 © Adrian Boot / urbanimage.tv (Scroll for exhibition record list) Ska and reggae groups started to emerge within the UK in the late 1960s, not long after reggae surfaced in Jamaica. Bands such as Symarip, the Cimarons and Greyhound were signed to labels like Trojan Records….




Beyond the Bassline: 500 Years of Black British Music

This Friday sees the opening of the British Library’s new exhibition ‘Beyond the Bassline’. Charting 500 years of history, it’s the first major exhibition about Black music in Britain. The exhibition presents over 200 exhibits, including original records and nostalgic film footage from the sound and vision archive, charting everything…




Sound Heritage Today: British and Irish Sound Archives event in Glasgow on 9-10 May

Do you work with or hold sound collections? Would you like to find out more about how to preserve audio recordings, make them more accessible, and engage different audiences with them? Could you contribute to conversations about how we can collaborate across relevant sectors to better support sound heritage? If…




Sound and Vision update

The British Library is continuing to experience disruption following a cyber-attack. As with other departments, access to the sound archive’s resources, and the services we are able to offer, have been affected. Most online systems, such as the Sound and Moving Image catalogue and the Sounds website, are currently unavailable….




Recording of the week: Things that go howl in the night

public domain With Halloween creeping up on us, I asked our wildlife curator to share with me her favourite spooky sounds. I’ve heard screeching barn owls. Hissing rattlesnakes. My favourite though: the chorus of howling wolves, recorded in Ontario, Canada in 2000. Listen to howls of the Gray Wolf There’s…